Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Voting against Shashi Tharoor

I'll be writing a detailed blog post on this later, but Shashi Tharoor, who is the Congress candidate from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala (my home state) is, in my opinion, the worst kind of carpetbagger ever in my electoral district's history and I will not be voting for him.

He has never lived in Kerala (as far as I can make out), leave alone Thiruvananthapuram, can't speak the local language (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/tharoor-campaign-hampered-by-language-barrier/89617-37.html), has no political experience (I guess losing the fight to be the UN Secretary General *is* experience ;-)), can't stand being questioned on his beliefs (he walked out of a TV interview because he thought the crowd was "unruly") and has no distinctive ideas I can make out from his writings. Apparently his academic qualifications and his diplomatic experience, such as it is is supposed to make up for his not being able to converse with his constituents, leave alone understand them. He was imposed on this constituency as a candidate, over ruling local part sentiment by the Congress "high command" which is another strike against him in my eyes.

I am electorally neutral and I don't belong to any political party, but I'd vote for anyone but Mr.Tharoor in this election.

Any Tharoor supporters on the intarwebz please don't bring up the Obama comparison. Obama is a Harvard grad , but he also has the street smarts of a Chicago politician, superb communication skills *and* ideas of his own.

I hope and pray Mr.Tharoor goes down to a massive defeat, thus sending a signal to other would-be carpetbaggers. I'll go out on a limb here and predict that Mr T will lose badly in the 6 way contest.

Of course, India being a democracy, I can only cast *my* vote as I see fit. If the majority vote goes to him, then he becomes my MP and that is as it should be. May that day never come!

35 comments:

Interesting! I had a conversation with a Congress die-hard related to Shashi Tharoor. How could someone coming from outside the constituency(in this case the country) understand the problems associated with it? The answer I got was these kind of candidates needs to be groomed. They are the president material like KR Narayanan.

I kinda agree with what you say and have not been able to make up mind so far on who to vote for. Tharoor might be an outsider, but how many "insiders" that we sent to Delhi have really fought for the issues that we face ? I have hardly heard anyone voice the concerns of our constituency in the parliament. So in my opinion, it is a gamble, a toss; if so why not try something new just to see if it clicks.

When faced with two evils (the worst case) slect the lesser one. Select someone who understands politics and is a bit of a crook on the side vs someone who *neither knows politics* nor how to be anything other than a first rate deceiver, who suddenly changes from a 3 piece suit to khadi.

the argument against Tharoor is that he is a ombination of being deceptive AND out of touch .

There is no doubting the fact that Mr Tharoor is far better educated that most of the members of the parliament. The fact that he could rise upto the level of under secretary in UN is a testament to the fact that he is both ambitious and has the ability to shoulder and live up to responsibilities. But what he lacks is experience in dealing with the dirt of Indian politics to get things done. If Mr.Tharoor really wants to represent Thiruvananthapuram or any other constituency in Kerala, let him get down to the roots and work toward making societal changes, use his diplomatic experience and clout in highlighting/escalating issues faced by the common malayali. He should spend sometime there, let us say the next five years, build a track record and then try to run for MP. Until that happens he will be suspected of being a carpetbagger. Another point : If (When) Mr.Tharoor loses there will sure be some hue and cry about how the literate and educated malayalis failed to elect someone like Tharoor while the Biharis and UPites send bandits to the parliament. Many would use this as a moot point while bemoaning the state of our democracy.Thanks,Venkatesh Potti

Ravi, One more comment. You have come across (through your writings) as a very sensible person with opinions and ideas of your own. How do you look at this election as a whole - is it just another mockery of democracy or do you think it would someday lead to a set up where the govt would truly be of,by and for the people ?Are you passionate about it ? Even after 60 years of Independence I have a feeling that democracy is still a foreign concept to us Indians and that we are not yet ready or "civilised enough" (sorry to use that term) for a democratic dispensation (recall banning books, movies, threats to Taslima, MF Hussein, Shah Bano case, populism, Gujarat..et al).Thanks,Venkatesh Potti

@Potti, I am just thankful I live in a democracy. I can speak my mind and live as I please.Where else in the neighbourhood would you like to live? Pakistan? China? Sri Lanka? Bangladesh?

Nobody ever said democracy was all clean or elegant. Even in the United States, elections (at a certain level) are dirty and grimy.The seamy underside is present in all human endeavour.

I am very happy with India and its democracy. There si (imo) no test of "worthiness" of a democracy. If people have the rights of free speech, free association and freedom of thought and religion (or lack of a religion), anyone can aspire for power, that is good enough for me. Iow, India "civilized" enough for me!YMMV :-)

I have my reservations when it comes to Tharoor, but I wouldn't mind if he wins. The last thing I want to see at the centre is a Third Front Govt with the smiling faces of Prakash Karat and Prime Miniter Kumari Mayawati.

Well, Mayawati could be the PM, Rabri Devi could be PM and even the criminal Pappu Yadav could be PM. It is democracy and if that is what the majority wants, they get it.-"Crucify him", shouted the crowd and Pilate had to finally give in. My point is that if thats what the crowd wants, then they get it. What can I do - just hang my head in shame !! I think the nation is at a juncture where we cannot afford to have the communists come to power. So, I will vote for any congress candidate just to stop the commies. Well, if the majority wants the commies to wash the nation down the drain, what can I do...just get washed down !!

if you are so concerned about the "unwashed" coming to power in a democracy, (a) go vote, (b) do your bit to educate people instead of ranting (c) stand for elections yourself.

That is what a democracy is you moron. You can't say "I like democracy as long as people I approve of are the only ones who will get elected" If you don't like it, go somewhere where "cool" people like you are he only ones to get elected.

If you notice, in my blog I said *I* will not vote for Shashi Tharoor. Do I think he has the right to stand? definitely. The right to be prime minsiter? Oh yes! Would I like this happening? No , not at all . But do i have to "hang my head in shame"? No, If Mr T wins playing by accepted rules of democracy as enshrined in the constitution and the rules of electoral conduct, I have no problems with him being MP, PM anything.

Now if you are going to spout such illogical crap, write this in your own blog or drop the anonymous tag so readers can see who is the idiot spouting such rubbish. The combination of anonymity and idiocy is out of bounds here.

@Anonymous, Stop sounding like a cry baby. Ofcourse it is shameful if criminals come to power using the votes of the ignorant and illiterate masses, but remember to appreciate the democracy that is at least in some way still functional in our country. Think of our neighboring countries. Thanks,Venkatesh Potti

This is the same argument that McCain used against Obama - That he is inexperienced and "does not understand" the problems faced by Americans. He further said that there is no time for on-the-job training.

I am of the opinion that Mr Tharoor is smart enough to learn, understand and deal with the problems faced by any constituency he represents- Be it Thiruvananthapuram, Kalahandi or Gangtok. He can use his celebrity, influence and clout to bring in investments and solutions to vexes. The fact that the man spent his life abroad should not be something against him, infact the experience and contacts he has gathered abroad should be exploited.

Ravi, you are entitled to your opinion and I to mine. The opportunity to comment on your blog is a courtesy and I thank you for it. What ever it is Do remember to vote and ask your friends too.Thanks,Rajeev

There is nothing illogical in what I said. My argument flows from the fact that it is dangerous to have the commies at the helm and so we should vote for a congress candidate. What is missing in this argument ?

I think a person need not be a long time resident of an area to do something good for that area. For example, Mahathma Gandhi was an NRI, who came back from a foreign land and captured the imagination of his people. He did a lot of useful work even in South Africa, a country he was visiting for his job. Strong leadership skills and commitment are sufficient to do good.

If you read his books, you will realize that Kerala is very close to his heart, indeed.

Also, Shashi Tharoor is a potential External Affairs minister. Regarding communication skills and "having ideas on his own", Watch his talk about Public Diplomacy at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iZ1qC7jAq4judge for yourself. (Click on the HQ button for a faster download)

About walking out from the TV Show, I am actually pretty pleased that he did that. It is okay to disagree on issues as long as there is some agreement on how you disagree. Having a street fight in live TV is definitely not a good way to disagree. I consider his walkout as his protest against this kind of unruly politics that has been harming our country for long.

BTW, my knowledge about the LDF candidate is based on his appearances in TV -- and he comes across as a very good candidate as well. In fact, I liked him the most among all LDF candidates. But I think Tharoor deserves a chance because he will bring in a different perspective to both Kerala politics and the Parliament. I hope he will be a worthy representative of TVM in the Lok Sabha. Of course, he can disappoint us -- but I will not hesitate to give him a chance.

"For example, Mahathma Gandhi was an NRI, who came back from a foreign land and captured the imagination of his people. He did a lot of useful work even in South Africa, a country he was visiting for his job. Strong leadership skills and commitment are sufficient to do good."

Mahatma Gandhi worked his butt off for the people of India. Forgot that part?

And where has Mr T demonstrated leadership skills of a sufficient magnitude to make the comparson with the Mahatma valid?

"About walking out from the TV Show, I am actually pretty pleased that he did that. It is okay to disagree on issues as long as there is some agreement on how you disagree."

a *politician* walking out when faced with a crowd that asks uncomfrtable questions? :-)

And you want him to go fight for you in parliament? :-)

"but I will not hesitate to give him a chance."

sure thing1 you have that right. My vote cancels yours and that's the way it should be

"There is nothing illogical in what I said. My argument flows from the fact that it is dangerous to have the commies at the helm "

The "illogical" part is that you don't have an argument. You just state these things, under the cover of anonymity. A statement is not an argument. The BJP, the COngress and the communists are all "dangerous" from various points of view. So who rules?

This is the same argument that McCain used against Obama - That he is inexperienced and "does not understand" the problems faced by Americans. He further said that there is no time for on-the-job training."

I warned against the Obama comparison didn't I?

That said, Obama is a once in a generation political phenomenon, apolitical genius who worked as a street level politician and demonstrated his political skills by taking down the mighty Hillary Clinton. If nothing else, the ability with which he ran his campaign starting from nothing is impressive.

Mr T got his nomination by sucking up to Mrs Sonia Gandhi (you should read what he said about Indira Gandhi in his books, do your research ;-) ) and his campaign in Trivandrum is floundering.

He doesn't appear on TV anymore and lets other politicians do the talking for him. What pray is the comparison to Obama again? That his opponents said he was inexperienced? *My* opponents say I am inexperienced as a politician. can I be MP candidate please? ;-)

The correct comparison would be if Obama came out of Harvard, sucked up to the democratic bosses, got a nomination without competing in his constituency for it in a party forum or on the streets, had no previous association of any kind with the Democratic party, lived all his life outside the United States, thought of politics when he was of retirement age, couldn't speak proper English, fell to pieces when a tv audience asked him questions, retreated from all contact with the media and THEN expected to win :-)

All that said, I thank you for your coherent (and non anonymous) response.

Because of the way it works in our place, candidates who do not belong to the the main coalitions have no hope of winning. So that brings the options down to just two candidates - Tharoor and Ramachandran Nair.

Ramachandran Nair has been active in local politics for a long time. But did he achieve anything worthwhile in has career as a politician?

Accepted, Tharoor is not fluent with our language and he is an amateur in Indian politics but we can still hope against hope that he will do something for the people he will represent.

In out country, as for as politics is concerned, there is definite dearth of good leaders. The "common man" has no choice but to expect that a miracle will happen.

"If you read his books, you will realize that Kerala is very close to his heart, indeed."

Was Mr. Tharoor under exile (à la Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn) that he had to resort to writing books to demonstrate the "closeness" to Kerala?

"Obama"

Can you imagine a scenario where Obama lived outside the US for 99% of his life and come back to stand in the primaries? And that he spoke broken English with a heavy Spanish accent? Guess who would have won the election then?

"He can use his celebrity, influence and clout to bring in investments and solutions to vexes."

If he is so celebrated and influential why is he waiting to become an MP to accomplish any of these? Surely such talent can make a big difference in such a small place as Trivandrum without running a comedy of a campaign?

PS: I am convinced by Ravi's logic. That makes it two votes against Mr. Tharoor :)

If you saw the debate, you will real realize that he faced all the questions well. He also came across as someone who was eager to let the other person speak, a rare quality among Indian politicians. When he walked away, he was not struggling to answer questions posed to him. A question was posed to another candidate, and the crowd turned unruly (literally, kayyangali). He walked out in protest.

2. Tharoor vs Obama - Comparision is irrelevent because Obama is from Harvard and has done some local work in Chicago.

Obama was running for President. Tharoor is running to become one of the 543 MPs. Tharoor got a Phd at the age of 22 (a Fletcher record). During his tenure in UN, he has worked a lot with refugees, in trying to understand their problems and making a difference to their lives. You should really watch the Youtube video to see if he is inspiring or not. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iZ1qC7jAq4&feature=PlayList&p=1AEA45282FDF1F00&index=7

3. Tharoor has criticized Sonia Gandhi - I am not doing my research well :-)

Well, I have done my research through original sources -- not by what is reported in the media. I read Tharoor's book in 2003 and this is what he has done:1. He has crticized Indira Gandhi during Emergency2. He has criticized the idea that some people thought Sonia can become PM after Rajiv's death.

I don't see any problem with any of these and his current position. Remember, Sonia Gandhi herself didn't feel it was a good idea then.

I think you should read Tharoor's book. In that, he explains his ideals and India's national values. One reason why I support his candidacy is because I agree with all his ideals.

In the end, we should ask ourselves whether Tharoor will be a valuable addition to our Parliament and national politics. And we should try to answer that question without passion or prejudice. My answer is , yes. But to each, his vote :-).

If you saw the debate, you will real realize that he faced all the questions well. "

This is matter of interpretation. What I saw was someone who spputed vague generalities in accented malayalam and couldn't handle the crowd.

"Tharoor vs Obama - Comparision is irrelevent "

I didn't raise the comparison . You (or some other anonymous - hard to tell the difference ;-) ) did. I agree that the comparison with Obama is irrlelvant. Obama is a political phenomenon who combines street level political smarts witha first rate intellect. Tharoor is at best a second rate bureucrat who has zero poluitcal credibility! But yes Iagree the comparison is irrlevant.

"He has criticized the idea that some people thought Sonia can become PM after Rajiv's death."

heh heh that is a nice whitewash! And what about the unctous praise of Sonia he wrote when he decided he wanted to become a politician? Mr Tharoor has always attached himself to and worshipped the powerful and will do and say anything and contradict himself to achieve his ambition.

"I think you should read Tharoor's book. In that, he explains his ideals and India's national values. "

I've read them. The difference between you and me is that I don't take any of his writings at face value. Itis easy to write. Hard to do things. If he had spent a few years actually "serving" his constituency (vs saying " First make me an MP then I will serve you) his "ideals" are so many words on paper.

"In the end, we should ask ourselves whether Tharoor will be a valuable addition to our Parliament and national politics. "

correct. And our answers differ. My answer is that he has done nothing to deserve my trust or vote and is just a carpetbagger.

Uhh . go do your research. "some work" in Chicago? Obama first ran for state senate, then the US (national senate), THEN ran for president. This took 11 years (1997-2008) of political work in his consttuency. That is a decade of work before the prsidential run and 7 years of work as a state legislator /politician (1997-2004) before running for the senate

And how much work has Tharoor done in Thiruvananthapuram? zero!!

How many days has he spent Tvm working on the political issues of the people and orgfanizinag and leading them? Zero!!

The equivalent would be Obama coming out of Harvard and immediately running for US senate without spending a single hour working for the people of Chicago!!You are right! It is an awkward comparison :-)

"This took 11 years (1997-2008) of political work in his constituency. "

Zing!

"The equivalent would be Obama coming out of Harvard and immediately running for US senate without spending a single hour working for the people of Chicago!!"

Double Zing!

Too bad I can't vote in your elections (French citizen), else I would have voted against Mr.Tharoor too after reading this blog. As far as I can make out Mr Tharoor spent all his career outside India and then came back just to contest an election? Wow! In parisian politics he would be dead in the first 10 minutes.

Ravi, Have you ever thought of joining politics?- perhaps as a backroom operator if you don't like being a candidate? I would imagine many politicians would like you to prepare their debate arguments and/or do the back room deals? You'd be pretty devastating as consiglieri :-D

"Ravi, Have you ever thought of joining politics?- perhaps as a backroom operator if you don't like being a candidate?"

Ha ha I am TOTALLY unsuited for politics :-) Just a coding body. I don't even blog about politics usually. Mr Tharoor's candidacy is so infuriating - he must think we are all idiots - that I broke that rule, for once :-).

"I would imagine many politicians would like you to prepare their debate arguments and/or do the back room deals?"

We don't have formal debates between candidates unfortunately. Most of the argument is indirect by propaganda and counter propaganda.

"As far as I can make out Mr Tharoor spent all his career outside India and then came back just to contest an election? Wow! In parisian politics he would be dead in the first 10 minutes."

precisely! Now imagine he can't read and write French and can speak only very basic very accented French and you have a good analogy!

In his book ‘From Midnight to Millenium’ Tharoor describes Indira Gandhi as “autocratic,” Sanjay Gandhi as “thuggish,” Rajiv Gandhi as pilot with no sense of political wisdom and Madam Sonia as “less educated, but somehow hyped as a Cambridge scholar by Indian media.”

"Do you know that Tharoor was offered a Rajya Sabha seat by the Congress high command but he was bent on entering Parliament with the mandate of the people ?"

This makes no difference to me. If you actually read the blog, you'll notice it is all about why *I* won't vote for him and will do everything I as just another citizen with no special powers can, to make him lose. My reasons are not altered by your claim that he prefered an election vs a nomination. I will still vote against himand work for his defeat.

If other people vote for him in sufficient numbers for him to be MP of Trivandrum, then good for him. That is how democracy works. *My* vote goes againt him